Nandahandi: At least three persons have died within just three days due to diarrhoea and vomiting at Dandasenaguda village in Jhadabandhaguda panchayat under this block in Nabarangpur district, Health officials said Monday. The deceased have been identified as Janaki Amanatya, daughter of Dambaru Amanatya, Narasingh Naik, and an elderly woman visitor Tulsa Amanatya. Janaki was undergoing treatment at the hospital but fled to the village in the middle of her treatment before recovery and succumbed at home, Friday. Similarly, Narasingh Naik died Sunday and Tulsa Amanatya of Jagannathpur village died while visiting her relatives Monday morning.
On being informed, a medical team from the district Health department rushed to the village and conducted examinations of affected persons. They urged the villagers to eat hot and properly cooked food and drink boiled water. The medical team also collected water samples from the village and rectal swab samples of the affected persons for medical examination. However, locals tried to rebuff their move by terming their illness as an act of witchcraft and sorcery. They claimed that they would be cured of their ailment after a sorcerer performed some rituals on them. “The exact reason behind the spread of the disease could be ascertained only after the reports are available to us,” ADMO Dr Naba Kishore Behera said. The medical team will stay put in the village before all the people are completely cured of the disease, he added.